Here is the draft. Some of it is lifted from the old letter and may sound a little strange? Suggestions welcome. It would be good to have a final draft sorted by Wednesday.

Dear Person,

We think you are great.

About a year ago we set up a Night Manager system to get the cafe running more smoothly, especially in the evenings. It helps us sell food later into the evening and to make sure everything is locked up properly at the end of the night. We think you might be able to help with this.

Firstly we would like to give you the grand, official title of Night Manager. This will have implications...

1. We will be relying on you to do a night shift roughly once every two weeks. It will still be up to you when you work, and we will not put pressure on you to work if you are busy with other things. If you can’t work as often as this, that’s okay too.

2. You will have the power to delegate tasks to other volunteers who are on shift with you. We would also appreciate if you could help train them and turn them into super volunteers (we accept that in some cases this will be impossible).

3. You will also have the power (and the responsibility) to deal with any misbehaving punters. It is up to you to decide if someone is too drunk, too aggressive or just too much of an arse. If you need it, ask for help from other volunteers who are on shift or hanging out. Or, if you really need to, call emergency services on 999 (in serious cases only).

4. We would like to know the place is going to be left reasonably clean and properly locked at night. This means you will generally be the last to leave the building, unless you hand over responsibility to another NM or a Forest working group member.

5. By law, we are allowed to stay open until 2am. Everyone must be out of the building by 3am. However, you are only responsible for keeping the space open until 11pm. This should give you enough time to clean up and go home by 12-12.30am. Acts can arrange to play later than this, but it must be arranged in advance. If there is not an event, or you do not have enough volunteers, it is up to you whether you would like to close earlier.

6. Please make an effort to be nice to performers – especially if they are good and you would like to see them come back! Get them a cup of tea, make sure everything is going alright, and maybe make them some free food if you think it is appropriate. This doesn’t mean a burrito for every member of a 12-piece band, but you could give them a plate or two of nachos. It’s your call.

7. Some acts may get half of the corkage at the end of the night. This should be arranged in advance with the events working group, or with you at the beginning of your shift. If a performer asks at the end of the night, it is up to you to judge.

8. You will have a direct line (via a dedicated internet forum) to other kitchen managers and night managers for discussion of all things kitchen-related. If you have not signed up to the bulletin board yet, go to http://www.theforest.org.uk/bb. From there, you can register with a login and ask for posting permission from Gaz, ravanwin or beev (send them a pm telling them the colour of the stage). Take a look at the working group forums, and see if you might want to get involved in any other areas of Forest.

9. For every shift you manage, you will be given a voucher for a free forest meal & drink, in addition to whatever you have while you're working. We use free food to convey our love and thanks for taking on this extra responsibility - delicious.

10. Before your first Night Managing shift you should meet with a Kitchen Manager or Forest working group member to learn how to lock the doors and turn everything off.

We hope you will decide to night manage and help spread the Forest love just a little bit more. If not, we love you anyway and would like to give you this shiny meal card to say thanks for all your hard work so far.

Is it the intention to give all the necessary information in one go? Does this not seem like a bit of an overdose for the potential new recruit?

How about a simpler letter which outlines the offer and another thing with more details to be given as a reference guide to those who accept? Or a more detailed guide that is laminated and always accessible for NMs to refer to when they are on duty?

Regarding fires: I assume the night manager should direct people to the fire exits and call 999. Legally, I don't think they need to stay in the burning building until everyone is out - shall we check?

The letter has been separated into a short covering letter and a sheet explaining things. There are copies of the explanation in the safe upstairs. The cover sheet needs to be personalised each time and is in my folder on the windows computer - file name is 'nm short letter.'

I can't remember if we're giving the letter to everyone, or just new night managers. Maybe we could give the detailed sheet to old, and both sheets to anyone new?

Here is the night manager letter updated again - action point completed! If I can get the printer to work, I will leave them upstairs in the safe. Every night manager should know this information before they do their first shift. Don't forget!

1. It would be great if you could do a night shift roughly once every two weeks. It will still be up to you when you work, and we will not put pressure on you to work if you are busy with other things. If you can’t help out as often as this, that’s okay too.

2. You will have the responsibility of delegating tasks to other volunteers who are on shift with you. We would also appreciate if you could help train them and turn them into super volunteers (we accept that in some cases this will be impossible).

3. You will also have the responsibility of dealing with any misbehaving punters. It is up to you to decide if someone is too drunk, too aggressive or just too much of an arse. If you need it, ask for help from other volunteers who are on shift or hanging out. Or, if you really need to, call the police at 0131 662 5000, or emergency services on 999 (in very serious cases only).

4. We would like to know the place is going to be left reasonably clean and properly locked at night. This means you will generally be the last to leave the building, unless you hand over responsibility to another night manager or a Forest working group member. There is a closing up list hanging inside the purple cupboard to help with the tidying.

5. Tables and chairs must be brought inside before 9pm. We will lose our permit if this is not done. This is also a good time to make sure all of the windows closed. This means both sets of glass and the wooden shutters. If not, we get noise complaints and visits from the police, and this means we are less likely to get alcohol and events licenses in the future.

6. By law, we are allowed to stay open until 2am or 3am on weekends. However, you are only responsible for keeping the space open until 11pm. This should give you enough time to clean up and go home by 12-12.30am. Acts can arrange to play later than this, but it must be arranged in advance. If there is not an event, or you do not have enough volunteers, it is up to you whether you would like to close earlier.

7. Please make an effort to be nice to performers – especially if they are good and you would like to see them come back! Get them a cup of tea, make sure everything is going alright, and maybe make them some free food if you think it is appropriate. This doesn’t mean a burrito for every member of a 12-piece band, but you could give them a plate or two of nachos. It’s your call.

8. Some acts may get half of the corkage at the end of the night. This should be arranged in advance with the events working group, or with you at the beginning of your shift. If a performer asks at the end of the night, it is up to you to judge.

9. You will have a direct line (via a dedicated internet forum) to other kitchen managers and night managers for discussion of all things kitchen-related. If you have not signed up to the bulletin board yet, go to http://www.theforest.org.uk/bb. From there, you can register with a login. You will be prompted for a password, which is 'herpes.' The password used to be 'love,' but things got out of hand. Take a look at the working group forums, and see if you might want to get involved in any other areas of Forest.

10. For every shift you manage, you will be given a voucher for a free forest meal & drink, in addition to whatever you have while you're working. We use free food to convey our love and thanks for taking on the extra responsibility.

11. Before your first Night Managing shift you should meet with a Kitchen Manager or Forest working group member to learn how to lock the doors and turn everything off.